Amelie Bourgeois | The Scented Hound

WHAT I SMELL: Rituale’s opening is warm and slightly smoky and quickly met with a spicy buzzing bergamot. A warmed lavender soon arrives layered on top of a light brown sugar note. The perfume is ardently inviting and seems to beckon you into a spell. The beguiling opening moves to the more serious where deep and mysterious florals slowly pulsate at a level that hugs the skin. Now that the spell has been cast, the perfume feels as if it has melded not just to the skin, but down to your soul. As the perfume continues to quietly develop, a warm and rich amber is coated with a honeyed beeswax along with the most subdued, yet slightly sweet patchouli. Rituale is not a perfume that will make a larger than life statement for the wearer, instead, it’s a quiet, subtle and hypnotic perfume that will draws others to you with it’s magic.

From the Mendittorosa website:

Rituals from ancient cultures; myths, symbols and religions in one perfume. Rituale is illuminated by a nectarous narcissus, a golden distillation of time like an everlasting sunrise. Blessing and prayer, a soothing balsam for skin, Rituale is your personal temple. Perfumes normally come and go with the wind but Rituale likes to linger and bless your day, creating a ritual especially for you.

Head Notes: Italian Bergamot, Mandarin Aldehyde, Lavender.
Heart Notes: Jasmin, Narcissus, Rose, Red Fruits (Blackcurrant, Raspberry, Pomegranate).
Base Notes: Patchouli, Sandwalwood, Beeswax, Amber Woods, White Musk, Hyraceum (Golden Stone).

Ingrid Bergman. Alfred Hitchcock Spellbound, 1945.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Spellbound.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE RITUALE: haunting, personal, contemplative

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT RITUALE: The Silver Fox, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE: I have been waiting to wear this beauty for some time as I knew it would not work well in the heat of Mexico. Now that the weather has finally cooled, I was able to experience this quiet, yet provocative perfume. It’s true, good things come to those who wait. Oh, and that bottle!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral Woody Musk
Nose: Amelie Bourgeois
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $230 for 100 ml parfum extrait

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary.

WHAT I SMELL: Blomma Cult opens with a deep warm bergamot…not the typical bright bergamot, but this beautiful grounded and earthy bergamot mixed with a radiant lilac. The perfume’s opening is very unusual and very much a temptress if there was one. Very quickly out of the gate, there’s also a mentholated vapor that engulfs the opening; it feels as if the vapor holds an elixir that could weave a spell of hypnotic control. And after around 10 minutes, a very subdued cinnamon develops. I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon in fragrance…or gum, or really in anything, but here it just adds this special layer of bold beefiness to this already warmed and pulsating potion. After another 10 minutes, the perfume begins to sweeten and soften and the perfume becomes velvety smooth. There’s also a bit of violet tartness that projects from the mix along with some powder. What started off as deep and beefy has turned to the beautiful powdered floral musk with hints of the original beef still lingering in the background.

From the Room 1015 website:

”Blomma Cult is a floral, sensual and bewitching fragrance built around patchouli and cashmeran. It is my olfactory perception of the 1960’s and1970’s counterculture movement with the sexual liberation and the rise of the hippie culture.”

Head: Bergamot, Lilac Heart: Cashmeran, Patchouli, Violet Base: Cinnamon, Vanilla, White Musks

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A swinging 60’s red velvet blazer!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BLOMMA CULT: dynamic, creative, different

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLOMMA CULT: Ye Olde Civet Cat

BOTTOM LINE: Michael Partouche, or Dr. Mike as he is called, created Room 1015 to combine is love for lotions and potions with his love for music which inspired him to create this new line of perfume. I love the concept, the website, the look and feel…and I really like Blomma Cult. It’s different, full of energy and at the same time incredibly powdery pretty in the end. Rock on Dr. Mike!

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral Woody Musk
Nose: Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $130 for 100 ml Eau de Parfum, exclusively at Twisted Lily in the US

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary